Should you secure your gold in vaults? Whenever you invest in gold, you must think about the storage you will be using to ensure that your assets are safe and secure. Gold storage should be secure and built according to moderns standards of security.
With a properly designed vault, you will be able to get better protection from theft than a safety deposit box used in your local bank. Additionally, the safety box at your local bank will be comparably safer than a low-cost safe in your home. Your gold can be at a massive risk if you store it in your home or garden. Even one person knowing where your gold is buried is a huge risk for you, and the gold can be stolen from right under your nose.
Gold Storages – What You Should Consider
As a gold investor, you have to look at several factors when choosing the best storage for your precious metals. These include:
- the dollar value of a complete loss, such as in case of theft
- practicality and convenience of the storage location
- ease of access during an emergency
Additionally, you will also have to consider adequate insurance for your gold in addition to getting rid of any other risks, such as the bank you store your gold with going bankrupt.
Gold Storage Options
There are several different methods and options that you can use to store your gold in a safe and secure place. They include:
- Non-bank Specialist Vaults – Bullion vaults offer a highly secure storage service for your gold. They ensure that your precious metals are stored in segregated and pooled vaults. The segregated vaults are usually separate from the metals stored by other investors. The pooled vaults usually mix the metals inside the vaults. Specialists’ vaults also have the most secure vaulting at lower prices since they take advantage of economies of scale. They also happen to be properly insured, and as such, your investment becomes less risky even when the vaulting company goes bankrupt.
- Non-bank Mixed Vaults – These vaults hold various high-value assets like cash, gold, diamonds, and artwork. They have the same level of insurance and security as bullion vaults but tend to have a greater user base. Additionally, they have a higher cost of maintenance than bullion vaults.
- Bank Vaults – Larger banks have vaulting services that also incorporate bullion storage. However, you must always study the bank with which you would like to store your precious metals. This will ensure that you will know whether they are secure and their financial conditions for the moment. They might crash, causing you to lose your money. Other banks are legally allowed to use deposited funds as their own when they run into a crisis. They might use your precious metals for their functions whenever they are about to become bankrupt.
- Safety Deposit Boxes – Safety boxes are the ideal choice for you whenever you need to store smaller values of gold bullion. Additionally, they are also more convenient if the facility happens to be close to your home. You will easily be able to access your precious metals. However, you still have to do your research to determine whether the company will be temporary owners of the content of their boxes and what might happen when they go bankrupt.
- Home Storage – With guns legal in the US, home storage is increasingly becoming the favorite storage for gold and other precious metals. Gold and guns will make thieves think twice about breaking into your home. It is also the main choice for investors who believe that holding on to something is what signifies owning it. However, you have to ensure that your home storage has been professionally installed. You should also ensure it and make sure that it is properly hidden in your home.
Storage Risks of Investing in Gold
Gold theft is one of the greatest risks of investing in gold. Even though most people think that criminals are the only ones that can steal your gold, the bank legally using your funds during a crisis and the government confiscating your gold in a national catastrophe still equates to the theft of your gold.
Whenever you work with a sketchy company with a deniable reputation, you are also putting your gold at risk. The company is likely to vanish into thin air with all your precious metals and not leave a clue about where they will be next. Once the gold has been stolen, it is very hard to trace. The thieves can easily melt it down and sold as scrap to willing buyers.
The gold market is also very liquid and takes place in minutes. There is no shortage of buyers, and the thieves can easily get rid of the loot on their hands in hours. As such, tracing stolen gold is next to impossible and as such, investing in the best vault is important for your precious assets.
Good vault providers minimize such risks by vetting all their staff with strict background checks to ensure they do not take any gold from the vaults. They will also carefully monitor the vaults with cameras, metal detectors, and foot traffic sensors installed under the carpet to prevent the unauthorized entry of people inside the vault.
In some vaults and storage facilities, the staff is required to change their clothes before entering the facility to avoid the temptation of pocketing nuggets of gold on the way out.
The compounds are also built with security features and restrictions that will prevent outsiders from getting into the facility. Insurance will also ensure that all the losses are covered if they do happen. You might think that buying a home safe makes your gold secure, but the chances of threat multiply when you choose this option.
As such, no one must be aware that you have gold sitting in your home. Top secrecy is important and will ensure that your gold is always safe and secure. There will be no trial, and as such, there will be no thieves that will be able to identify where it is hidden.
There is also the risk of other disasters such as fire and even natural disasters. Tornadoes and earthquakes make it harder for you to ensure your gold if you store it at home. Fires are also likely to melt your gold since it has a lower boiling point of 1039 Celsius, and as such, a fire event can cause all your gold to be melted with much ease.
Recommendations
It is much better to have an ultra-secure specialist with a non-bank vaulting solution to store your gold safely. This will give you access to the best security and lower risks, and all this comes at incredibly low prices. Unless you have armed guards and state-of-the-art security technology at your home, it is unlikely that you will be able to match the services that you will be getting with a specialist gold vaulting facility.
The distance to the facility might be the only downside that you will have to put up with. For instance, if it happens to be a long drive away, you will have to factor this into the equation, such as when you need to retrieve the gold so that you can be able to turn it into cash.
You can also store the long-term gold in vault storage, and the gold you need for the short term should be stored in your home safety box. This will give you ready access to the gold that you can use whenever the need arises, while the rest of the gold you need for the long term will be in more secure storage that the professionals are managing. You will have to determine the amounts you will need for your short-term emergencies, as this will be what you should be stored at your home storage. You can keep the metal safe hidden securely behind or beneath other items and furniture inside your home.
I hope you found this article to be helpful and that it was interesting. If you have any questions, we will be more than happy to answer them below.
All the best,
Pete